Shericka Jackson became the fastest woman alive over 200m as defending champion Dina Asher-Smith was dethroned at the world championships
Over 21.45 extraordinary seconds, Shericka Jackson flew supersonic into golden skies. MeanwhileStunning because, as Asher-Smith revealed afterwards, she had been knocked sideways by the death of her cherished 92-year-old grandmother Sislyn Asher, who was part of the Windrush generation, in May. Yet here she was, after a season of doubts and fears and heartache, proving once again that she is one of the world’s greatest sprinters.
“We looked very similar, same mannerisms, birthdays two days apart, my whole life we always had a joint birthday,” she said, smiling. “She’d like to claim she was a sprinter, 100%. If you were to ever ask she’d say it’s all from me.” Asked about her journey from a shock defeat at the British trials in June to winning another major medal here – the 16th of her career – she explained: “I had to take myself from being so profoundly sad to being OK to race. But I knew my grandma would have wanted me to be performing amazingly.
What made her performance all the more extraordinary was that after 100m, the top three were separated by just 0.05sec. But when Jackson hit the straight, she flew home in a stunning 10.41sec. No wonder the vuvuzelas, which made it sound as if an army of mosquitoes were invading Eugene, honked in approval.During her stellar career, Jackson had won 11 global medals at Olympics and world championships, across the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
And what made this victory so special for Jackson is that she was knocked out of the 200m heats in Tokyo after slowing down too much when in the lead. It was a lesson so tough it made her cry. But it also taught her something else.
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